The eastern Iranian province also holds 10 million tons of proven copper reserves, 7 million tons of magnesite, about 500,000 tons of industrial soil and 6 million tons of potash, he added.
“The province accounts for over 70% of Iran’s iron ore reserves, of which 2.5 billion tons are proven and 7 billion tons are probable. Come February, over 90% of mining territories will be put up for auction for exploration studies,” Motamedian was quoted as saying by IRNA.
South Khorasan possesses a total of 578 mines, according to Financial Tribune.
The province ranks fourth in the number of mines and mining jobs, fifth in exploration license, sixth in exploration permit and seventh in proven reserves among all Iranian provinces.
Tabas, Qaen and Nehbandan are the top three counties of South Khorasan in terms of mine exploitation capacity.
Iran is home to over 40 billion tons of mineral reserves, 400 million tons of which are extracted annually.